Chapter 29 Calytrix
TWENTY-NINE
CALYTRIX
Istood in front of his bars with a smirk on my face, waiting for his reaction. It didn’t disappoint. His mouth hung open, and he was speechless, which might be a first for him.
“I told you.”
“How did you—?” he gaped.
“There isn’t time to explain.”
“Come get me. Let’s get out of here,” he all but pleaded.
I shook my head. “I have to find the keys. I can’t take someone else with me.” Well, except Nova, but I was sure that was something to do with us being twins.
And for the first time, it hit me. I didn’t know where Nova was or how she was. The panic washed over me in a wave, and I almost screamed her name. What kind of sister was I not to be thinking of her above all else?
“What is it?” Faolan strained to be near the bars, concern on his face.
“I—I just realized I don’t know if Nova got away. I don’t know if she even lives.” I heard my breathlessness before the panic rose through the lack of air. I was having a breathing attack of some kind.
“Look at me,” he demanded, and my eyes went to him. “Breathe.” He demonstrated by drawing in a deep breath through his nose and holding it for a few beats before releasing it slowly.
I copied, shakily.
“Nyx and Zaria have Nova, so she is fine,” he soothed.
“You don’t know that.” I battled shallow breaths to get the words out.
“Don’t you, though?” he sounded so calm, soothing. In a way, I would not expect from a dragon.
I paused, unsure of his meaning.
“Think about it. She is your twin, your other half. If the worst had happened, wouldn’t you know?”
“But we aren’t bonded or anything, so how would I?”
“Close your eyes,” he instructed. “Concentrate and listen. Listen for the wind to tell you, or your God, or whoever whispers life’s certainties to you. You will know then.”
I did it, I closed my eyes and listened hard, feeling foolish but desperate for some kind of sign. And then I felt it. Nothing specific, just a…rightness in the air. She was safe. She had to be, or I was certain I would have felt unease.
“Who taught you to do that?” I asked in wonder.
“An elder healer where I’m from,” he said simply, not elaborating. “Do you feel better?”
I nodded.
“Good. Now hurry. We have no idea how long they’ll leave us,” he whispered.
Pulling myself together, I searched outside the cells and then down the hall.
I doubted they’d be so naive as to leave them anywhere within reach of us, but how would they begin to guess I could use portal magic?
I reached the end of the hall and listened at the closed door ahead.
There were no sounds. I didn’t want to waste time, but I also didn’t want to come face-to-face with whoever was holding us.
Readying myself to jump straight back out if I did, I went for it. I found myself in an anteroom of sorts, and thank the Gods, it was empty. Just a chair and table and, praise the Light, the Keys! Hanging on a hook near the door.
I used the keys to return to the cells to conserve magic and came back around the corner into view of Faolan’s cell, carrying them.
“Where did you find them?” he asked as I started trying them in the lock.
“I had to go through another door—” I held up my hand before he could cut me off. “I was careful. No one saw me.”
He grunted but remained silent as I tried the keys. Finally, one worked, and we both exhaled.
I opened the door and dashed in, finding smaller keys on the ring that looked like they would fit the cuffs on the chains that tethered him to the wall. His cuffs came loose, and he lowered them to the ground to prevent them from clattering and drawing attention.
I headed for the door and held it open, and he stepped through, rubbing at his wrists. “You haven’t told anyone you can do that?”
I shook my head. “Only a few in my kingdom know.”
“Good. I wouldn’t. Not even the future king. If you need it, you don’t want them to prevent you from being able to use it.”
“I’m not sure I would have told you if we hadn’t been locked up,” I admitted. I knew better after the ways my father found to prevent me from escaping.
He hesitated. “Can you scout the other sides of doors before we go through?”
I shook my head, considering my words. “I can only do it a few times before I need to recharge.”
“Were you taught how to call power?” he asked.
“What do you mean?” I gave him a questioning look.
“We’ll talk later. We need to go before someone comes looking for us.”
I held up the keys. “Want these?”
“You keep those. If I need to shift, it’s better for you to have them.”
I nodded.
He went to the door but paused and looked over his shoulder. “Have you ridden a dragon?”
“No, but I’m excellent on a horse.”
Faolan gave me a flat look.
“Oh, please. Of course you are far superior to a lowly horse—I would never compare you. But I’m quite sure the principle is the same.”
“If you try digging your heels in or shouting giddy up, I’ll throw you,” he growled.
I rolled my eyes. “Yes, your dragon-ness.”
“If I need to shift, get on my back by any means necessary. Understand?” he instructed, ignoring my snark.
“Yes.”
“Right. Let’s go.”
We headed back to the anteroom, and, using his special dragon hearing, he listened ahead. We were able to avoid two priests and find our way into a courtyard of some kind.
“It’s some kind of fort,” Faolan whispered.
We had no idea how long we were out when they moved us or how far we travelled. We could be in a different kingdom. But the climate felt the same, and the sound of nearby running water made me think we were still in the River Kingdom.
“Do you hear any fae?” I asked, assessing our options.
Ahead, there was a small doorway, open into a dark-looking corridor, and a cobbled road cut through the small yard from right to left, clearly for carts to gain entry to the inner fort.
There was no one around, but we couldn’t stand here all day.
We would get found. Faolan peered around the wall and took a short glimpse of the cobbled road, then ducked back into our alcove.
“There is too much activity that way, and I’m guessing the same can be said for the other side. And through there," he pointed at the door are kitchens of some kind, “I can hear clattering and smell food, so we can’t go that way.”
I was not getting any of that. I just had to take his word for it. But we were stuck—there were no two ways about it.
“We need to climb.” He pointed up, and I saw what he saw.
The road passed into the courtyard under a stone archway and exited on the opposite side under the mirroring arch.
And across the tops were battlements that, if un-manned, we could use to scale to the outer wall and escape.
I looked up the wall for potential handholds and, without any sign of another choice, I reluctantly agreed.
Going first, I hauled myself up onto a barrel and began climbing the stone wall, grateful for every day of my rebellion from the life my father preferred for us and all the times I’d tried to run away over the years, each a lesson in the survival arts.
I was surprised how easily we both scaled the wall and were atop the battlements. Up here, we were more exposed, but we crawled across the arch out of sight of those below. We rounded the corner that would lead to the outer wall and came face to face with a stunned guard.
Faolan had his hands up, muttering something before I could react. And the guard quickly slumped over without Faolan even having to touch him.
“Is he dead?” I choked.
Faolan shook his head. “Just passed out. I cut off his air for a moment.”
“Another item we can add to our ‘talk later’ list,” I mumbled.
“Come.” He held out his hand, and within a moment, we were climbing unseen down the outside of the fort.
We ran through the pasture surrounding the fort towards some dense woods without speaking. We were completely vulnerable, but decided that we’d be able to get away easier, albeit slower, without a massive dragon launching from the fort.
I laughed as soon as we were under the cover of the trees. We weren’t in the clear, but we were so close. It would be easy to lose a pursuit in the forest. If one came, but no alarm had yet sounded.
I didn’t know how long we ran for, but finally, we came to a stream. “Which way?”
He looked up at the twin suns, and the visible planets littering the quickly dimming sky. “West. We need to head towards the Middle Sea.”
“Do you think that’s wise?”
He paused and studied me for a few moments. “What do you mean?”
“We must have been spotted before we got on the River of Sorrow. They saw us near the sea and followed us, don’t you think?”
“You have a point. So we need to stay away from cities, coasts, and priests. Anything else?”
I shrugged. “We don’t know who our enemies are. Or where we’ll be safe.”
“I know places along the way,” he said, like it pained him to do so. He nodded West, and we followed the river until just before full dark. “We should rest for the night here.”
I grimaced. “I don’t want to spend the night in the forest.”
“What else do you propose? We have nothing with us, and no idea of where we are.”
I reached into the neckline of my tunic and produced the pouch of gold we shared before we were captured. “I have gold, you have wings, I’m sure we can find somewhere.”
His eyes shuttered closed and he let out a small groan. “Fine. Just put the gold in your damn pocket like a normal fae, will you?”
I chuckled and ignored him, settling it back between my breasts where it would be safest.“Do you think we’ve put enough distance between us and them for me to fly?” I looked over my shoulder like they’d pop out at any moment.
“I think so. They have leagues and leagues in every direction to search, and we haven’t heard them at all. But we should wait until it’s completely dark, less chance of being spotted.” His logic was sound, but I still didn’t trust it.
My skin crawled. “I know, but I can feel them.”
“Is this another undisclosed magic skill you possess?”
“No. It’s just a feeling.”